A Boston College sports blog capturing the highs and lows of being a BC fan living 1,000 miles from Chestnut Hill.

Thursday, April 03, 2014

Report: Christian to BC

As with all of this nonsense, I will wait until official word from BC. However, this time feels a little different. I believe it and will have more later. I think this is the wrong hire. Jim Christian might be a fine coach, but my expectations are low. I also think Brad Bates bungled this process and possibly doesn't understand what BC is. And I don't mean as just a basketball program, but as a community, school, being part of Boston and New England, etc. Fit is subjective, but it should be a factor. I will expound more later. Good luck to Christian.

I don't know much about this guy and he is not who i wanted. That being said, try to remember back (or go back and read the comments on this board) when Addazio was hired. On average, 9 out of 10 fans were furious; 1 out of 10 were willing to wait and see; 0 out of 10 were pleased.

Hopefully Bates saw something in the interviews that led him to believe Christian could turn this thing around quickly.

I'm not saying I am ecstatic about this hire, nor do I know anything about Christian as a coach, but go back and look at the comments when Daz got hired. There was not a resounding feeling of excitement there (remember, Diaco was a favorite), yet everyone would agree that early returns after one year are promising. Daz brought everything to the table that Spaz and the program was lacking and we are excited about football again.

Let's give Bates a chance on this one. It may not have been a sexy choice, but from what I have seen, BB has done a pretty good job so far polling the constituents on what is important with key decisions affecting athletics. Look, it can't be any worse than what we just had.

The program has passed on from the "bordering on irrelevance" stage. BC hoops is irrelevant. If the University will financially commit to the basketball program, the basketball program will not succeed in the ACC. That was an open question leading into that search. The question is now answered.

We are like a small market team in baseball that chooses to accept revenue sharing and spend none of it on the payroll. Just happy to be along for the ride.

There was no reason to fire Donahue if Christian was the type of coach we were looking for. And as for the Daz comments - He was the OC for a National Championship team in the SEC. Christian's experience can't compare. He's an an average coach in an a average conference.

This is all on Bates. He had many months to prepare the Board of Trustees for the inevitable and start his coaching search. And this is the final product? He could not sell a glass of cold water in the desert. This is simply deplorable. Shame on anyone who does not voice his/her displeasure with this hire to Fr. Leahy.

Statistically the best coach in a an average conference who went to the CIT this year. That is just what the ACC is looking for. What other statistics doe he have? Let;s see - 2 NCAA tournament appearances and he lost in the first round both times.

A decade is about right. 4 years of Donahue ineptness. 4 years for Christian to prove his average small conference ability and then another 2 - 4 years for a real coach to clean it up. That is 10 to 12 years. And how much revenue have we and will we miss out on? Nice work Brad Bates!!!

Once upon a time BC hired a coach with a track record for rebuilding programs and all the tools to become a great ambassador for the school in the community . The BC fan base rejoiced, and that man would go on to become quite possibly the worst coach in the history of the program.

I'm not saying Christian is the answer or the ideal choice, but anyone we were getting (as mentioned on this blog) had a hole or two in his resume. Sure he took over successful programs, but he was able to sustain that success, which is no easy feat. For those who don't remember, those kent state teams were pretty damn good and the later teams were with his players, not Stan Heath's.

I'm interested to see how he builds his staff and if he could bring over the recruit who just decommitted. He may not be the ideal hire but let's not jump off a cliff just yet.

I already jumped off the cliff. And for the record, the Kent State teams were so good that they lost in the first round of the NIT 3 times and the NCAA 2 times. Christian has NOT won a single game in the NCAA or NIT. That ought to translate real well in the ACC.

Agree that we won't know until we see him in action but we can still be underwhelmed. My cynical reaction is that Bates know we're not renovating/rebuilding Conte in the next 5 years so why spend on a big-time coach or hire an up-and-comer who will have to struggle against the superior support of the majority of the ACC. So hire Christian for cheap, hope you win the lottery, and if he struggles, reboot in 5 years when the university is ready to make the commitment on facilities. Why burn capital now, when the program is not ready to compete. That narrative would be disappointing but it's the only way I can make sense of the hire.

Bates is bush league. Evidently his exhaustive search processes end with hiring one of the top MAC coaches. Maybe we lucked out with Addazio, time will tell.

But hoops needed someone to energize a moribund program.

I would love to have been a fly on the wall when Calhoun reached out to Bates. He must've crapped his pants. He should go back to the MAC himself, but nobody wants him there because he screwed up Miami (OH) so badly.

It starts and ends with Leahy. He doesn't give a damn about big-time athletics.

Is all this what happens to graduates from a great institution? None of you know the inside story. Not one of you interviewed anyone for the job. Not one of you has ever been an AD. None of you have to live with the consequences of the hire. Not one of you has a clue as to what the new guy will do.

But, too many are dead certain that you know the future. My guess is that all the negative neds have no responsibilities for hiring and firing key people.

Were all the successful coaches in this world born with winning resumes? How did they get to be the guys that you claim BB should have hired? BB met the guy. He evaluated him, none of you did. So why not wait until there is a REAL reason for your pessimism not just your bloggers bluster.

"I would love to have been a fly on the wall when Calhoun reached out to Bates. He must've crapped his pants"

So typical. You have no info at all if Calhoun "reached out" to BB. NONE. All we had was Cal blowing off to a third rate reporter. That's it. Nothing at all about BB taking with him or even hearing from him. You watch Sports Central so much you actually think it is true. All guesses and speculation. Remember the "authoritative report" that Donahue was staying.

Heh, according to Joseph, no one and nothing can ever be criticized. Bates? Off limits because we have no idea how he made his decision. Donahue? Nope, because we have no idea how he coached, how his personal relationships were with his players, etc. Obamacare? Not at all because we have no idea what's actually in the bill and have no first-hand experience as to how it was crafted. Joseph himself for being a complete imbecile? Way out of bounds because we have no first hand knowledge of the thoughts in his head before they are written and have no personal experience as to what makes him click. Give me a break.

bb, being critical without anything to back it up is your way of life. And, now that the other BB has made his second major hire, without a shred of evidence of how good his judgement has been. Show me your record of accomplishment before your plan has been tired. If it were up to many posters here there would never be a need to play the game because they know how it will end.

Oh I love Joseph, if nothing he is consistent, I do respect him for that fact. I still do not know why he takes time out of his busy day of being a CEO to come on this board. We get it, you disdain us because we use this forum as an outlet to voice our displeasure. If you want to start your own positive only blog, please be our guest. I think the criticism of this hire is completely valid. I will say this again, college hoops is all about recruiting. The Donahue experience highlighted this fact. Christian's experience at TCU is troubling because he was brought in to save the program and failed miserably. TCU was where we are now, the lowest of lows. He was lucky enough at his other two spots to follow up really good coaches. I dont think this guy will attract the kind of players necessary to win in the ACC, nothing in his past would suggest this. Please let me know when your blog is up and running so I can come troll on it!